A fun, short trip

Timing all fell into place and we got to do a quick trip over to Bellingham right before the 4th of July.

Bass went over two days earlier and did a few projects (details in a post to follow), and then we both spent June 30th – July 3rd out in the islands. Well, THE island of Sucia, actually. Word on the street is Sucia is a zoo in the summer, especially over three day holiday weekends, but if that’s the zoo you can let me in anytime… the “zoo” commenters must not have ever been to Trellis Bay in the BVI during the full moon!

We had a great sail to Sucia, 4 hours from Bellingham all under sail (with some assist from the current going up the Hale Passage), and Thursday afternoon snagged one of the four mooring balls at Ewing Cove (48.764823, -122.884911). Our hope was Ewing would be out of the fray if things did get busy and it sure delivered. We spent three nice nights on the ball, with great scenery (the trees and rocks are really close, much closer than I’d want them at anchor, but great for from-the-cockpit viewing) and lots of great wildlife… a pair of eagles flirting in a tree (I’m sure there’s a kids song that goes something like that…), sea lions on the rocks at low tide, and lots of seals floating around in our little area.

We took a few small trips to shore to stretch our legs, but mostly relaxed, got some sleep, and enjoyed a bit of the freedom of not having Hobie on board with us, as it was just a quick fly over trip. But we did miss the hound dog and will have her for our next trip for sure.

Weather was mostly warm and sunny, a bit of wind we could have gone out in on the 2nd but by that point we were sure we’d lose our mooring ball and our ground tackle simply isn’t up to snuff yet, so we stayed put and read and enjoyed the sun.

Sunday the 3rd came all too soon and we motored across the Rosario in no wind, down the Hale Passage (wind up a bit but dead on the nose and against the current) and then a nice leisurely, indirect sail back to the marina via Chuckanut. Of course, strongest winds were reserved for just as we backed into the slip, but that’s become predictable. GoPro time lapse (2+ minutes) of our trip back from Sucia:

All in all a very pleasant, all too short trip (although we did manage the Bellingham dining double of dinner at Anthony’s on the way out AND at Chuckanut Brewery on way back) and good proof that we can do quick flyover trips when we have a few days we can squeak off.